Auxiliary pre-adjusting device for the needles of a flat bed knitting apparatus



. Jan. 26, 1960 G KQCHHEIM 2,922,295

Filed April 6, 1956 AUXILIARY PRE-ADJLISTING DEVICE FOR THE NEEDLES OF A FLAT BED KNITTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 26, 1960 KOCHHEIM 2,922,295

AUXILIARY PRE-ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR THE NEEDLES OF A FLAT BED KNITTING APPARATUS Filed April 6, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Gerhard Kochheim, Hannover-Linden, Germany Application April 6, 1956, Serial No. 576,744

Claims priority, application Germany July 12, 1955 5 Claims. (Cl. 66-60) The invention relates to an auxiliary preadjusting device for flat knitting apparatus needles having a slidelike support with fixed and pivotally mounted guiding and deflecting means actuating upon the needle butts for the purpose of obtaining diflerent designs in the knitted fabric. 'For manufacturing knitted fabrics with different designs on flat knitting apparatus, predetermined needles are put intheir out-of-operation-position. This is done by displacing the needle butts and this can be eflected by shifting the needle butts with the fingers or by means of a design adjusting rack. Both manners of adjustment of the needles are very tedious, and errors easily occur which often may be observed at first after the knitted fabric is finished.

The object of the invention is to overcome these disadvantages by an auxiliary pre-adjusting device which is as simple as possible in its structure and its manipulation.

For this purpose a needle adjusting device of the said kind is used whic-hcomprises a bearing plate, plate-like guiding means having opposed sliding edges for the needle butts and guide rails for the slide-like support at the underside of said bearing plate, said opposed sliding edges approaching each other in an inclined form to a point of reduced space and subsequently to said point passing over into parallel sliding edges in a predetermined enlarged space from each other, a-wedge-shaped needle-but deflecting member pivotally mounted at said bearing plate between said parallel sliding edge, the

wedge point of said deflecting member being directed to said point of reduced space and corresponding with the sliding edges of said point in the end positions of the pivotal movement ofsaid deflecting member, a pivotal control member detachably mounted'behind said pivotal deflectingmember and in a distance from said point of reduced space corresponding to a multiple needle pitch ofthe-needle bed, a connecting rod pivotally connected with said deflecting member and said control member, a lateral abutment nose for the needlebutts at said control member transversely extending in the passage way of the needle butts along one of said parallel sliding edges, resilient means for yieldingly holding said pivotal 'deflecting member and said control member in one of their invention are shown diagrammatically. They represent:

vFigs. 1 and 2 show an embodiment as a hand actuated slide-like device seen from underneath and in a ver- Fig. 3 shows the same hand actuated device in positical longitudinal section along the line-II--II of Fig. 1.

Patented Jan. 2%, 1960 2' tion ofuse ona part of the needle bed of theknitting machine in plan view,

Fig. 4 is another embodiment from underneath,

Fig. 5 shows the same device in a vertical section along the line V--V of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 shows the same device in position of use on a part of the knitting apparatus needle bed in a plan view with the pivotal needle deflecting member in the one po sition,

' Fig. 7 shows. the same device in position of use at the slide of the knitting apparatus on a part of the needle bed of the knitting apparatus in plan view, with the pivotal deflecting member in the other end position.

In Figs. 1 to 3 is 1 'the bearing plate of the needle adjusting device designed as a hand apparatus. This plate .1 is preferably made of a transparent material, particularly a plastic material, and on its underside two plate-like guiding means 2 and 3 of metal or any other material are fixed, which are. provided with straight skidlike guide rails 4 and 5 for the slide-like needle adjusting device and have opposed sliding edges 7 and 8 for the needle butts 9 slidably disposed inthe needle bed of the knitting apparatus, said edges approaching each other in an inclined form to a point of reduced space 6. By means of the skid-shaped guide-rails 4 and 5 the needle pre-adjusting device is spaced from the needle bed 10 and guided on one of the slide rails 11 for the slide-like hand control element of the flat knitting apparatus.

Subsequently to the point of reduced space 6 said opposed sliding edges 7,8 pass over into opposed sliding edges 12, 13 with a predetermined increasing space from of the invention seen .each other. Between these opposed sliding edges 12, 13

a wedge-shaped needle butt deflecting member 14 is pivotally mounted at 15 on the bearing plate 1, the wedge point of this deflecting member being directed to said point of reduced space 6 and corresponding with the sliding edgesof said point 6 in the end positions of the pivotal movement of said deflecting member .14. In this embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3.the wedge-shaped deflecting member 14 is provided at its rear thicker end with opposite lateral abutment noses 16, 17 extending in the passage way of the needle butts 9 near said opposed sliding edges with increasing space from each other. According to the passageway for the needle butts from the wedge point of the pivotal needle deflecting member 1410 its rearward lateral abutment noses 16 and 17 during. the sliding movement over the needle bed of the knitting machine .two or more needle butts pass the deflecting member 14 until they actuate the respective lateral nose 16 or 17 of the deflecting member 14 and pivot the latter from one lateral end position inthe other lateral end position in which the following needle butts are guided or deflected into the passageway along the opposite lateral sliding edge and after the passage of two further needle butts again in the first lateral end position. Thus the needle butts 9 in cooperation with the deflecting member 14 are moved either into the position ready for new action during the latter knitting operation, or in the position in which they are out of operation. 1

In the embodiment of the adjusting device according to Figs. 4 to 7 the pivotal deflecting member 48 is shaped in the manner of a right-angle triangle and its pivot 49 is shifted somewhat to the side from the longitudinal center line of the adjusting device. At the same'time the pivotal deflecting member 48 is preferably pivotally connected by means of a lateral positioned pivot 20 with a movement transfer rod 21, which is provided with holes 22, coinciding in their space from each other with the needle pitch of the needle bed, in which holes engage a pivot 23 of a control member 25, pivoted at 24 and provided with a lateral abutment nose 26 extending in the passageway of the needle butts 9 near the sliding edge 47. The pivot 24 of the control member 25 is mounted in a bearing body 27 which is detachably disposed in one of several recesses 28 of thebearing plate 1 and held in the respective recess by a threaded spindle 30 with a knurled nut 31 which can be displaced in longitudinal direction of the adjusting device through a longitudinal slot 29 of the bearing plate-after loosening itsnut 31. The recesses 28 in the bearing plate 1 are provided in a number corresponding to the number of the coupling holes 22 in the connecting rod 21 an d spaced from each other corresponding to the needle pitch of the needle bed.

In Fig. 7 is 50 the slide of the knitting device, on which the auxiliary needle adjusting device for the respective fabric design is fastened in a rigid but easily detachable manner, so that it is guided over the needle bed with the slide of the knitting apparatus when the needles 9 have to be pre-adjusted. The pivotal deflecting member 48 is at 32 pivotally connected with an actuating rod 33 guided in a transverse straightline in the bearing plate 1. The actuating rod 33 has an elongated transverse hole 34 for the pivot 32 at the deflecting member 48 and is yieldingly held in its position corresponding to one end position of the pivotal deflecting member 48 by means of a spring 35. At its outer end the actuating rod 33 is rigidly connected with a push buttonrlike handle 37 disposed in a recess 36 of the bearing plate 1.

By pressing down the push-button-like handle 37 and shifting of the actuating rod 33, the pivotal deflecting member 48 is displaced against the action of the spring 35 from the end position according to Fig. 6 to the other end position according to Fig. 7 in order to bring the first four needle butts 9 and therespective needles in the position of rest at 18, according to the design which may bedesired when the device is applied on the needle bed 10 of the flat knitting apparatus. If the adjusting device between the point of reduced space 6 and the control member 25 corresponds to a ten-fold pitch of the needle bed, it is, e.g., possible to effect divisions as 119; 2:8; 3:7; 4:6 and so on which always divide in the total pitch, if the control member 25 is adjusted to pitch 10. That means that in the first case (1:9) always one needle is moved out of operation and the following nine needles are brought in the position ready for operation. In Fig. 6 .the control member 25 is adjusted at a point corresponding to a seven -o ld pitch of the needle bed 10 and always four needles are moved in the position out of operation at 18 and three needles in the position ready for operation at 19. Thereby at first four needle butts must be moved in the position out of operation bymeans of pushing down the handle 37 and moving the deflecting member 48 in the respective end position shown in Fig. 7. After releasing the handle 37 the deflecting member 48 is moved by the spring 35 on the actuating rod 33 in the opposite end position shown in Fig. 6 and three needle butts can pass along the sliding edge 46 into the position of ready for action at 19. As soon as these three needle butts have passed the deflecting member 48, the first needle foot of the preceding group of four needle butts passed along the deflecting member 48 and the sliding edge.47 pushes against the lateral abutment nose 2601? the vcontrol member 25 which causes the moving of the deflecting member 48 in the opposite end position in which it is held until all four needle butts of the first group have passed said lateral abutment nose 26. During this time a second group of four needle butts are guided by the displaced deflecting member 48 in the position out of action at 18. The next three needle butts 9 are again guided in the position ready for action. Thus the auxiliary pre-adjusting device can be moved over the complete needle bed 10 without pushing the handle 37 once more and all needles will be adjusted.

What I claim is:

1.'An auxiliary 'pre-adjusting device for flat knitting apparatus needles having a slideelike support with fixed and pivotally mounted guiding and deflecting means acting upon the needle butts for the purpose of obtaining different designs in the knitted fabric, comprising a bearing plate, plate-like guiding means having opposed sliding edges for the needle butts and guide rails for the slidelike support at the underside of said bearing plate, said opposed sliding edges approaching each other in an inclined form to a point of reduced space and subsequently to said point passing over into sliding edges with a predetermined enlarged space from each other, a wedgeshaped needle-butt deflecting member pivotally mounted at said bearing plate between said parallel sliding edges, the wedge point of said deflecting member being directed to said point of reduced space and corresponding with the sliding edges of said point in the end positions of the pivotal movement of said deflecting member, a pivotal control member detachably mounted behind said pivotal deflecting member and in a distance from said point of reduced space corresponding to a multiple needle pitch of the needle bed, a connecting rod pivotally connected with said deflecting member and said control member, a lateral abutment nose for the needle butts at said control member transversely extending in the passageway of the needle butts along one of said sliding edges, resilient means for yieldingly holding said pivotal deflecting member and said control member in one of their end positions of the pivotal movement, hand actuating means and pivotally connected movement transferring means between said hand actuating means and one of said deflecting and control members for moving the latter against the action of their resilient holding means in its other end position.

2. An auxiliary pre-adjusting device for flat knitting apparatus needles having a slide-like support with fixed and pivotally mounted guiding and deflecting means acting upon the needle butts for the purpose of obtaining different designs in the knitted fabric, comprising a bearing plate, plate-like guiding means having opposed sliding edges for the needle butts and guide rails for the slidelike support at the underside of said bearing plate, said opposed sliding edges approaching each other in an in clined form to a point of reduced space and subsequently to said point passing over into parallel sliding edges with a predetermined enlarged space from each other, a wedgeshaped needle-butt deflecting member pivotally mounted at said bearing plate between said parallel sliding edges, the wedge point of said deflecting member being directed to said point of reduced space and corresponding with the sliding edges of said point in the end positions of the pivotal movement of said deflecting member, a pivotal control member detachably mounted behind said pivotal deflecting member and in a distance from said point of reduced space corresponding to a multiple needle pitch of the needle bed, a connecting rod pivotally connected with said deflecting member and said control member, a lateral abutment nose for the needle butts at said control member transversely extending in the passageway of the needle butts along one of said parallel sliding edges, resilient means for yieldingly holding said pivotal deflecting member and said control member in one of their end positions of the pivotal movement, a handle and a slidably and transversely disposed actuating rod fixed thereto and pivotally connected with said pivotal deflecting member for moving the latter against the action of said resilient holding means in its other end position.

3. An auxiliary pro-adjusting device for flat knitting apparatus needles having a slide-like support with fixed and pivotally mounted guiding and deflecting means acting upon the needle butts for the purpose of obtaining different'designs in the knitted fabric, comprising a bearing plate, plate-like guiding means having opposed sliding edges for the needle butts and guide rails for the slide-like support at the underside of said bearing plate, said opposed sliding edges approaching each other i9 an inclined form to a point of reduced space and subsequently to said point passing over into parallel sliding edges with a predetermined enlarged space from each other, a wedge-shaped needle-butt deflecting member pivotally mounted at said bearing plate between said parallel sliding edges, the wedge point of said deflecting member being directed to said point of reduced space and corresponding with the sliding edges of said point in the end positions of the pivotal movement of said deflecting member, a pivotal control member detachably mounted behind said pivotal deflecting member and in a distance from said point of reduced space corresponding to a multiple needle pitch of the needle bed, a connecting rod pivotally connected with said deflecting member and said control member, a lateral abutment nose for the needle butts at said control member transversely extending in the passageway of the needle butts along one of said parallel sliding edges, resilient means for yieldingly holding said pivotal deflecting member and said control member in one of their end positions of the pivotal movement, hand actuating means and pivotally connected movement transferring means between said hand actuating means and one of said deflecting and control members for moving the latter against the action of their resilient holding means in its other end position, a bearing body for the pivot of said control member adjustably and removably disposed in said bearing plate at points spaced in accordance with the needle pitch in the needle bed on a line parallel to the longitudinal center line of the adjusting device through the pivot point of said pivotal deflecting member, and coupling means between said connecting rod and said pivotal control memer to pivotally and detachably connect said rod and said control member in spaces corresponding to the needle pitch of the needle bed.

4. An auxiliary pie-adjusting device for flat knitting apparatus needles having a slide-like support with fixed and pivotally mounted guiding and deflecting means aeting upon the needle butts for the purpose of, obtaining different designs in the knitted fabric, comprising a bearing plate, plate-like guiding means having opposed sliding edges for the needle-butts and guide rails for the slide- 6 like support at the underside of said bearing plate, said opposed sliding edges approaching each other in an inclined form to a point of reduced space and subsequently to said point passing over into parallel sliding edges with a predetermined enlarged space from each other, a wedge-shaped needle-butt deflecting member pivotally mounted at said bearing plate between said parallel sliding edges, the wedge point of said deflecting member being directed to said point of reduced space and corresponding with the sliding edges of said point in the end positions of the pivotal movement of said deflecting member, a pivotal control member detachably mounted behind said pivotal deflecting member and in a distance from said point of reduced space corresponding to a multiple needle pitch of the needle bed, a connecting rod pivotally connected with said deflecting member and said control member, a lateral abutment nose for the needle butts at said control member transversely extending in the passageway of the needle butts along one of said parallel sliding edges, resilient means for yieldingly holding said pivotal deflecting member and said control member in one of their end positions of the pivotal movement, hand actuating means and pivotally connected movement transferring means between said hand actuating means and one of said deflecting and control members for moving the latter against the action of their resilient holding means in its other end position.

5. An auxiliary needle adjusting device as per claim 1, in which at least said bearing plate consists of transparent material, preferably plastic material, whereas all unmovable sliding and guiding elements of metal material are rigidly connected with said bearing plate at the underside thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,645,439 Marneux Oct. 11, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS 270,850 Great Britain May 19, 1927 

